


Friends With Benefits

by tvfanatic97



Series: Rom-Com Tropes Galore [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Romantic Comedy, F/M, Future Fic, No Midtown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 10:46:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15727827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvfanatic97/pseuds/tvfanatic97
Summary: MJ is a New York City superhero head-hunter trying to recruit California-based superhero 'Spider-Man' onto the Avengers. When he takes the job and makes the move, they quickly become friends. Their friendship turns into a friendship with benefits with the pair naively believing adding sex to their friendship will not lead to complications.Friends with Benefits (2011) AU.





	Friends With Benefits

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series now because I'm lame, sorry.

The 2010s and 2020s had seen a large-scale emergence of new super-powered individuals both all over the US and all over the world so much so that soon enough the new reformed S.H.I.E.L.D. in partnership with Stark Industries had formed a new superhero division tasked with recruiting all these individuals. Once recruited, these individuals were then offered proper training along with costumes to enable them to be effective superheroes/crime fighters and for a few extremely gifted individuals, they were also offered a place on the Avengers.

This is where MJ came in. Her job was as a superhero executive recruiter, a job she got after Tony Stark himself directly plucked her from her role as a low-level S.H.I.E.L.D agent upon the formation of the superhero division, was to scout the emerging super-powered individuals and then try and recruit the particularly impressive ones to the Avengers.

Her most recent assignment was to recruit a west coast crime fighting individual who’d been dubbed “Spider-Man” to the Avengers given the impressive feats he’d displayed in the social media and security camera footage of him they’d seen.

This is how MJ found herself travelling from New York to San Francisco to track down Spider-Man.

She’d been given limited information on his possible alter-ego, he’d been evading the agents tasked with finding out who he was so the only information MJ had was about his likely base of operations so she had to spend a few days staking out the block of apartment buildings that had been triangulated by the agency. Her agency training came in handy, enabling her to patiently stake out the buildings and nearby alleyways until after four days of recon she uncovered the face under the homemade costume. With further investigative work- i.e., stalking- she further uncovered the identity of the hero as being a Peter Benjamin Parker, a 27-year old software engineer born in New York who had moved to the west coast at a young age after being orphaned to live with his widowed aunt and was now currently living with a childhood best friend, a Ned Leeds.

It took a further two days of observing Peter Parker’s routines to determine the best way for her to approach him and she eventually decided upon pretending to be a head hunter looking for a talented engineer. Dropping Tony Stark’s name sped the process up and Peter Parker’s boss quickly set up a meeting between her and Peter under the guise of an interview.

They were given a private side office in the company building furnished with just a pair of bean bags; the casual nature of tech offices never ceased to amaze/amuse MJ.

“I didn’t know Stark Industries had head hunters,” Peter said as he nervously rubbed the palms of his hands on his jeans.

“We don’t,” MJ declared simply before she got up to close the blinds and check again that there was no one close by, listening in before continuing. “I’m not here to recruit you as an engineer, Spider-Man,” MJ said once she’d settled back into the bean bag opposite Peter’s, keeping her voice low.

Peter feigned a look of shock in response to her words, “What? I don’t- what do you mean? I don’t know what you mean by that,” Peter stumbled over his words.

“There’s no one else listening, I triple checked. You can drop the act and besides, you’re not even convincing,” MJ said with a roll of her eyes at his bad acting.

There were a few quiet, tense minutes as Peter sized MJ up deep in thought, considering what his next move would be but he must have seen something trustworthy in her because he found himself confessing, “Yeah, okay. I’m Spider-Man.”

MJ only rolled her eyes in response to his declaration like it was something she didn’t already know.

“What exactly are you recruiting me for? Also is your name even Mary Jane like you told my boss?” Peter asked, firing his questions out at a hundred miles per hour.

“Yes my name is Mary Jane. I work for Tony Stark and he asked me to recruit you to the Avengers,” MJ answered, unbothered.

At her words, Peter’s eyes went wide with excitement which amused MJ. This was probably going to be one of the easiest recruitment assignments she’d ever had.

“Wow!” Peter exclaimed with child-like wonder. He cleared his throat in an attempt to compose himself so he came across like a mature adult rather than an excited child, “What- uh- what would that involve exactly?”

“Relocation to New York where you’d receive training from S.H.I.E.L.D.-“ MJ started briefing him.

He interrupted her partway through her breakdown to declare, “I don’t need training.” To which MJ just gave him a look of disbelief so he looked down sheepishly to allow her to continue.

“-training from S.H.I.E.L.D, costume fitting from Mr Stark then further training and briefing specific to the Avengers.”

“Cool, wait-  _relocation to New York_?”

MJ exhaled like she was garnering the patience needed to explain something to a child. “The Avengers are based in New York so you’d have to be based there as well. You can either live at the Avengers Facility or you can take up a day job as an engineer at Stark Industries as well and you’ll be provided with a company apartment in the city if you don’t want to stay at the Avengers Facility and want a life outside of the Avengers.”

Peter considered his options for a few silent minutes whilst MJ scrolled through her phone, already looking at flights back to New York figuring this was an easy choice for him but to her surprise Peter finally spoke up saying, “I can’t do it.”

This threw MJ off, she’d been doing this job for a couple of years and she was really good at her job and this was the first time someone had said no to her. “What do you mean you “ _can’t_ ”?” MJ asked incredulously.

“All my friends and family are here on the west coast, I can’t just move my entire life to the east coast,” Peter lowered his voice before continuing, “I can’t leave my aunt.”

MJ took a deep breath to compose herself, on the one hand she was pissed at having to go back to Tony empty-handed which she’d never done during the time she’d worked for him but on the other hand, having read his file she understood why he wouldn't want to relocate.

“Okay,” she finally said after a few minutes in her thoughts.

“Okay?” Peter asked, surprised.

“Yeah, but can we hang out later and I’ll tell you a bit more about the work S.H.I.E.L.D and Stark Industries have been doing with super-powered individuals like you then if you’re still not in I’ll go back to New York and we’ll leave you alone?”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

 

* * *

 

The two of them met up outside Peter’s office building later that day once his work day was finished.

“So what do you have in mind for us to do?” Peter asked in greeting.

“We could grab dinner or something? I don’t really know the area,” MJ replied.

Peter considered her for a minute, “We could just grab pizza and go to my apartment-“ at his suggestion MJ narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, “-no I mean, uh, if we’re talking about like S.H.I.E.L.D. business we’ll need privacy, right? I’m not- I’m not like coming onto you,” Peter scratched the back of his neck nervously.

MJ couldn’t help but smile at his obvious nerves and found herself disarmed by his sincerity, “My name’s Michelle, by the way.”

Peter looked at her in surprise at her revealing her real name to him but after the initial shock, he was able to calm down, “Nice to meet you, Michelle.”

With that they went and got the pizza and went to his apartment. As they got through three large pizzas- Peter insisted his superpowers gave him an increased appetite when she’d questioned the amount of food he had bought for two people- MJ told him more about the work she’d been doing with superheroes and what he could get from joining the training programme. As well as talking shop, they also got to know each other a bit more, talking about their backgrounds and jobs.

Hours passed with conversation flowing easily until Peter’s roommate eventually came back to the apartment around midnight.

“Dude I need to tell you about- oh hi, I didn’t realise you had company…” Ned spoke once he saw MJ and Peter sat next to each other on the floor by the couch.

MJ got up and approached him, “Hi, I’m Michelle,” she introduced herself easily.

“Ned, nice to meet you,” Ned said, taking the hand she offered as his eyes darted between MJ and Peter questioningly.

“I’m a head hunter for Stark Industries and I was trying to recruit Peter here but he said no, so I should probably get going,” MJ said as she moved to go and grab her shoes.

MJ heard whispered muttering exchanged between the two men but elected to ignore it as she put her shoes back on, “It was nice to meet you Ned, and Peter if you change your mind you have my details.” And with those parting words she left and headed straight for the airport.

 

* * *

 

Within a couple of hours of her arriving back in New York she received a call from Peter saying he was accepting her offer to join the Avengers and for a day job at Stark Industries. So she had immediately busied herself with making arrangements for his flight and apartment so it was all ready for when he came.

Peter arrived in New York a few days later and immediately started his job at Stark Industries working on developing superhero tech under Tony Stark’s mentorship whilst he simultaneously completed his training for the Avengers.

He was put on to a special accelerated Avengers training programme given his incredible abilities and prior experience but he was by himself completing this training which meant the only person he really knew in New York was MJ and so the two quickly formed a friendship and “Michelle” soon became “MJ” to Peter.

The pair spent their free time together, with MJ showing him around New York or they’d go out to different bars and restaurants or when they were too lazy to go out and do stuff they’d just spend time in either of their apartments.

On one such Friday night at Peter’s place, the two found themselves on the topic of sex and relationships.

“When was your last relationship?” Peter asked curiously out of the blue during a quiet moment.

“Err,” MJ paused, thinking back for a minute, “High school, I think.”

“Wow,” Peter exclaimed. When he realised she wasn’t going to ask him the same thing in return he continued on by himself, “Mine was about a year and a half ago.”

MJ sighed realising he wasn't going to drop the topic, “Have you been dating since?”

“Nah, I’m not really looking for anything serious or any commitment. Between the training and my new job here courtesy of you I don’t have time for anything serious,” Peter said.

“Yeah I get you,” MJ sighed out in agreement.

“I’ve tried hooking up with a few people but things always get messy somehow. I don’t want a relationship but I still wanna have sex, you know?” Peter said having turned to face her fully.

“Yeah we’re sexual beings with needs,” MJ shrugged in agreement. “I don’t get why emotions have to come into it, like you can just have sex without feelings being involved.”

Peter clapped his hands in agreement, “Yeah, exactly! It’s not difficult to separate the emotions from the sex but every time I’ve tried to just hook up with someone it always ends with me hurting someone’s feelings because I’m not interested in more.”

“Two people should be able to just have sex without it complicating things,” MJ said, eyeing Peter with interest.

Peter gulped aloud at the look she was giving him before he scooted closer to her. “Is this ok-“ His question was interrupted by MJ closing the gap between them and pressing her lips firmly against his.

They kissed heatedly, immediately opening up their mouths to deepen the kiss as they simultaneously moved off the couch.

“No, here,” MJ said through heavy breaths when she felt Peter picking her up to move them to his bedroom.

At her words, Peter dropped her back onto the couch and was immediately back on her hovering over her as he resumed their making out.

They stripped their clothes and Peter explored her body with his hands, mouth and tongue until MJ was whimpering, begging and pleading him for more.

He quickly rushed to grab a condom from his bedside table in his bedroom and when he came back, MJ made quick work of putting the condom on him then they moved together to completion.

When they were finished they both cleaned up first then moved to his bed.

“So some ground rules,” MJ said from where she was lying beside him.

“Setting rules for something that’s supposed to be casual is a little counterintuitive, don’t you think?” Peter asked bemusedly.

She reached across the bed to weakly slap his shoulder, “Shut up.”

“Okay, sorry. Go on,” Peter said, clearing his throat to stop his laughter.

“So just sex, no feelings, no commitment and no attachment. We’re still friends; this doesn’t change anything.” MJ declared.

Peter was quiet for a moment and MJ couldn’t get a read on him with his face being cloaked in darkness with the only light being the bright letters of his alarm clock on the bedside table. Eventually he then spoke, “Cool. Just don’t get feelings for me,” Peter said cockily, though MJ could tell he was joking from his tone even though she couldn’t see his expression.

“I should be saying that to you, I’m actually really easy to fall for,” MJ said as she grabbed a condom from his bedside table and then began shifting across the bed so she was closer to Peter.

Peter only laughed in response to her words, “Okay MJ. Let’s just have some fun then.”

MJ moved the sheet away from their bodies and moved to straddle his lying form, “Yeah, let’s have some fun.” And with those words she rolled the condom onto him so they could have another round of  _fun_.

 

* * *

 

The arrangement seemed to work well for the busy twenty-somethings. Neither wanted to be in a committed relationship but they both had needs so they carried on sleeping with each other casually whilst they also maintained their friendship.

They’d agreed that it was casual and either of them was allowed to sleep with other people but soon enough both admitted they weren’t sleeping with anyone else so after undergoing testing their ditched the condoms.

They had formed a nice routine where they spent their weeks working and having training on Peter’s part, and he was even going out on missions with the Avengers now. Then whenever they were free they would hang out like they did before except now, part of their time together was spent in one of their apartments exploring each other’s bodies to find out what made each one tick. Finding out what turned the other on, what their fantasies were and how to get each other off.

Their arrangement seemed to be working really well for a while until Peter confessed that it wasn’t working for him anymore one weekend whilst they were at his apartment.

He had come back from a long and very difficult mission in South America with the Avengers and had arrived at his apartment exhausted to find MJ waiting for him, having let herself in with a key he’d given her for convenience’s sake.

The two were on each other almost immediately, the Chinese takeout MJ had brought with her forgotten on his kitchen table as he manoeuvred them to his bedroom.

They fell into bed together, the sex frantic and rushed with both being impatient after the near three-week hiatus whilst Peter was away on Avengers business.

Peter flipped them over so he was now on top of MJ as he moved in her.

“Harder, Peter,” MJ demanded as she pulled on his hair slightly to urge him on. When he acquiesced, quickening his pace, MJ kissed him then leaned up to his ear to whisper, “God, I’d missed this. I’d missed you,” through her quiet moans, punctuating her words with a quick kiss to his cheek.

Peter only moaned in response to her words then he moved them around so their position was now switched with MJ now on her hands and knees whilst he moved behind her.

They moved together until they both finished then they showered and cleaned up separately and collapsed in his bed.

“That was half decent; nice work Parker,” MJ said from across her side of the bed. One of the extra rules that had been introduced later on as part of their agreement was no cuddling hence why she stayed firmly on her side of the bed and him on his.

Peter didn’t say anything in response to her sort-of-compliment, he instead spoke up quietly, “I think we should stop sleeping with each other.”

“Oh?” MJ said questioningly, confused.

“I wanna start dating again, like all the commitment, feelings and mushy stuff we said no to before,” Peter replied in a whisper.

“Okay.” MJ said silently before turning away from him to sleep.

“Okay.”

 

* * *

  

Within a few weeks of their conversation, Peter started seeing Liz. Gorgeous, kind and smart Liz who worked with kids as a paediatrician at New York-Presbyterian.

The long hours she kept as a resident matched up nicely with the weird hours Peter kept because of his superhero-ing which worked out well for the couple.

The two were together for a couple of months whilst MJ carried on with meaningless hook-ups, continuing to evade any sort of commitment. The more serious Liz and Peter got the less time MJ and Peter started spending with each other even just to hangout as friends like they used to do before they’d started sleeping with each other. She still saw him occasionally in group situations, with Liz present, like whenever Ned was in town to visit but they didn’t hang out alone anymore.

MJ had made her peace with losing her friendship with Peter, figuring that Liz knew about their previous sexual relationship and wouldn’t be wholly comfortable with the two of them spending a large amount of time alone together like they used to when Peter was single.

That all ended when Peter showed up at her apartment, having ended things with Liz after just three months together.

MJ opened her door to Peter holding bags of takeout and a six-pack of beer.

“Liz and I broke up,” Peter said by way of greeting in response to her questioning look.

MJ exhaled sympathetically then moved aside to let him in without asking for further explanation.

They spent the night with Peter moping about things not working out with Liz in between binge-watching episodes old episodes of ‘Parks and Recreation’ as they ate junk food.

“I’m going home to Chicago for Fourth of July weekend, come with me,” MJ suggested, interrupting yet another one of his self-pitying rants about how he couldn’t seem to make a relationship last.

“I’d rather just stay in New York and patrol. Criminal activity is high when people have been partying and drinking you know, and besides I don’t really feel like celebrating right now,” Peter whined as he dug a spoon into a tub of Ben and Jerry’s.

MJ rolled her eyes at his dramatics, “Oh my God, Peter. There are like twenty different heroes that operate in New York who can handle a few days without you and you need to have some fun and get over this breakup, you’re making  _me_  sad now.” She kept her comment about how he'd only been with Liz for three months to herself.

After some deliberation Peter finally made his decision, “Fine, I’ll come with you.”

 

* * *

  

They arrived at her childhood home on the Thursday night right before Fourth of July weekend meaning they had all of Friday to waste since the celebrations weren’t until the Saturday.

So after having introduced Peter to her mom and little sister over breakfast, MJ spent all of Friday showing Peter around the suburb she’d grown up in along with the rest of Chicago since Peter had never seen much of the US outside of California having grown up poor in a single parent household with his aunt.

They went to see a large chunk of the famous sites during the day then went for dinner at a local pizzeria MJ loved then they ended their day by going for a walk around her neighborhood.

Whilst they walked, they talked about each other’s childhoods with MJ pausing occasionally to point out places to go along with her stories like the playground where she lost her virginity at seventeen or the house where she got drunk for the first time at a party.

They walked in companionable silence for a while until Peter eventually asked a question which had been on his mind all day, “So err, was it just you, your mum and your little sister growing up?”

MJ turned to face him slightly as they carried on walking at a leisurely pace, “Yeah, my dad ran out on my mom when I was 10 and Kaylee was 6.”

“That sucks,” Peter said, grabbing her hand to bring her to a stop opposite him.

“It’s fine my mom was always able to provide for us and we grew up just fine without him,” MJ said quietly, now stood facing him.

“That’s good to hear,” Peter said, still holding her hand in his which he was now stroking soothingly.

“I don’t like- have daddy issues by the way. I haven’t had long term relationships because of my job and lifestyle not because I have weird trauma from my dad leaving us that I never dealt with,” MJ rambled.

Peter stepped closer to her before speaking, “I never said you did and I don’t think it either.”

“I’m just saying, I’ve dealt with it. We had to have therapy when I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. so I’ve worked through it all and I’m good now,” MJ said in a whisper.

“Okay,” Peter said with amusement lacing his words.

“Okay. I’m just making it clear, just in case you think-“ MJ’s words were interrupted by Peter pressing his lips against hers.

They kissed for what felt like hours, tongues just slowly exploring as MJ’s hands ran through the hair at the nape of Peter’s neck whilst his hands were wrapped around her waist, rubbing soothing circles into her lower back. They’d kissed plenty before when they were having no strings attached sex but this somehow felt different, there were unspoken feelings conveyed in the kiss, and there was a never before explored intimacy to their kissing this time.

When they eventually pulled away, neither said a word. Instead, MJ just took Peter’s hand and lead him back to her childhood home where they fell into her childhood bedroom now turned guest room.

Before when they had casual sex, it was definitely “fucking”, this time it was more like “making love” as cheesy as that sounded. Both chasing their release at a slow, gentle pace, all the while sweet nothings were whispered between them.

They eventually fell asleep, wrapped up in each other in a way they had never done before.

When morning came, MJ snuck out of bed whilst Peter was still asleep not wanting to face the consequences of the previous night and instead chose to go downstairs and help her mother with setting up for the day of celebrations despite her lack of skill when it came to cooking or any other domestic tasks.

Her mom tasked her and her sister with setting up the garden, not wanting them anywhere near the food given how lacking they both were when it came to cooking.

“So, how long did you say you and Peter have been together?” Kaylee asked casually as they were setting up a table that the buffet of food was going to go on.

“We’re just friends,” MJ said with a roll of the eyes.

“You have a hickey on your boob that wasn’t there when you got here,” Kaylee replied, folding her arms in disbelief.

MJ pulled her tank top up from where it’d slid down to reveal the aforementioned hickey at the top of her left boob self-consciously. “Like I said, we’re just friends.”

“You should be together,” her younger sister declared simply.

“It’s complicated. He has a dangerous job where he puts his life on the line and I could never be the worried girlfriend, at home just waiting for him to come back. It’s not a life I want for myself and he’s not worth it,” MJ replied dejectedly.

“Oh-“

The rest of Kaylee’s response was interrupted by the appearance of Peter on the porch with a large box in his hands. “Err hi, good morning, your mom told me to bring these decorations out here for you guys,” Peter said with a sheepish smile on his face.

He came towards them then dropped the box off and didn’t say anything further before leaving the pair outside.

By the time MJ was done setting up and had gone upstairs to the other guest room he was originally meant to be staying in, she found him packing his small bag.

“Peter,” She called out gently.

“Hey- uh- I’ve gotta go back to New York. I feel a bit restless and I’m still thinking about Liz and everything so I just need to go and do Spider-Man stuff,” Peter rushed out, still focused on the packing and not bothering to look up at her.

“Oh,” MJ said, crestfallen. “Okay, I can give you a ride to the airport in my mom’s car?”

“I’ve ordered an Uber, it’s okay,” Peter said, finally looking up at her once he’d finished packing.

“Okay then.”

“Okay.”

 

* * *

  

MJ stayed in Chicago for a further two weeks before she went back to work in New York, having used up a large chunk of her vacation days.

When she got back to work on Monday morning she was immediately called up to a meeting with Tony Stark.

“Tony,” she greeted coolly as she stepped into his lab.

“You know most people tend to call their boss by their surname à la “Mr Stark” just as a sign of respect. Just saying…” Tony responded jokingly.

MJ just stood there with her arms crossed, watching and waiting for him to finish.

Tony sighed in defeat, “You’re a tough one MJ.”

“Only my friends call me MJ,” MJ retorted, her amusement barely contained. “What’s up? Is there a new potential recruit you need me to charm or did you just call me up here to banter because I have actual work for S.H.I.E.L.D. I need to be doing?”

“Peter says he’s leaving the Avengers and Stark Industries and going back to California,” Tony said finally putting down the non-descript piece of tech he’d been fiddling with since she’d got there.

“What?” MJ asked, shocked.

“Yeah he said and I quote, “I’d rather take all the knowledge you’ve taught me and use it to defend my home city, there are enough heroes in New York”” Tony said exasperatedly, like Peter’s words were ludicrous to him. Him and Peter had grown close over the time Peter worked here, with Tony taking Peter under his wing when he’d seen how the younger man’s mind operated and how intelligent he was. MJ was pretty sure Tony had started covertly coaching Peter to eventually take over his role when it was time for him to retire from his work at the company.

“So do you want me to start scouting for new Avengers recruits?” MJ asked apathetically.

“What? No!” Tony rolled his eyes. “I want you to talk to him, I know how  _close_  you two are,” Tony said, his tone suggestive.

MJ narrowed her eyes at his tone which caused Tony to look down embarrassed, “Sorry, MJ,” he said quietly to the ground.

MJ couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction at how she could intimidate even Tony Stark with just a stare.

“Fine. I’ll try but it’s not gonna do anything so don’t get your hopes up.”

“Ah thank you MJ,” Tony said gratefully as he approached her with his arms spread, trying to go for a hug.

MJ just eyed him in disgust before turning around and leaving his lab.

This exchange was how MJ found herself at Peter’s door that evening. She considered letting herself in with the key that he’d given her many months ago but decided against it just in case she may have been intruding so she instead rang the doorbell.

Peter opened the door a few seconds later, looking dishevelled and like he hadn’t slept in days. His eyes lit up slightly when they met hers for a brief moment, “Hi.”

Peter made no move to let her in and instead stood there blocking the doorway. “Are you gonna let me in?” MJ asked impatiently.

“What do you want MJ?” Peter asked, irritated.

MJ looked at him in disbelief, okay so he wasn’t going to let her in so they’d just have to do this out here. “You’re leaving?”

“Yep” Peter replied simply.

“Why?”

“This isn’t my home so I wanna go back home,” Peter said quietly.

“You’re not happy here?” MJ asked quietly, her previous annoyance dissipating.

Peter looked at her for a few moments before he finally stepped aside to let her in.

“I’m really grateful for everything I’ve learnt and the new suit I’ve been given but I just- all my friends and family are back west and I never wanted to come here to begin with so…” Peter left the rest of his sentence unfinished.

“So why did you come here?” MJ asked bitterly as they walked into his living room after he’d closed the front door.

“To learn and become a better hero but it’s time for me to go back now. I don’t even have friends, I’m not happy here.”

“I’m your friend,” MJ said in a whisper, hurt.

“That’s the thing MJ, I don’t want to be your friend. I want- I want-“ he paused to consider his words before carrying on, “I want  _more_  and you don’t since I’m not worth it.”

MJ looked at him in confusion at his words before she realised where she’d heard those words before. He’d obviously overheard her conversation with Kaylee a few weeks back, back in Chicago.

“Peter-“

Peter interrupted her, “I’ve been in love with you since before Liz, I think. That day I came back after the mission in Peru it was so good to come home to you here, waiting for me. And when you said you’d missed me that night it was all too much for me that’s why I had to end it. I tried to move on with Liz but it was never gonna work out when I was in love with someone else so I fucked that up too but I didn’t even care, I just wanted to see you so I came straight here immediately after we broke up. Pretty fucked up, right?” Peter exhaled loudly as he settled into the couch.

MJ watched him, processing his confession, unsure of what to say or how to proceed.

“Then you took me to your childhood home and showed me around where you grew up and that night when I kissed you and then we made love it was different- it felt important and significant and I was ready to tell you how I felt that morning but then I heard you say those things to Kaylee and I felt pretty fucking stupid.”

“Peter please-“

Peter interrupted her once again, “I’m grateful for everything I’ve learnt over the last year thanks to you but I can’t be here and be around you daily. I know you don’t feel the same and that’s okay, but I just need time and space away from- from  _this_ ,” Peter said gesturing between them. “So I need to move back to California and there might be radio silence for a while whilst I work through some shit then I’ll be okay and we’ll be okay again.”

“Peter-“ MJ tried again.

“I’m sorry for unloading all of this on you. I know you don’t want this, you never did, and you probably don’t know what to do with all this. I don’t really know why I told you all this,” Peter said with a sardonic laugh.

“I don’t know what to say,” MJ said after Peter was finally done talking.

“Like I said, I know you don’t feel the same way. It’s okay but I do think you should leave now.”

MJ watched Peter for a few moments as she considered what to do but in the end she gave up and decided to leave.

 

* * *

 

The next week was confusing for MJ.

She was unable to focus at work, her mind occupied with thoughts of Peter and his words. She was so distracted that she ended up having to take further vacation days to go back to Chicago and see her mom and sister.

She explained everything that had happened to her sister, from their casual hook-ups to Liz to Peter’s recent confession to her.

“Why didn’t you just say I love you back?” Her sister asked incredulously, like it was so obvious and MJ was being incredibly dense.

“What? What do you mean?”

“MJ we both have genius level intellect, don’t play dumb,” Kaylee said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m not. I just don’t know how I feel.”

“You obviously have feelings for him you stupid bitch!”

“Don’t call me that, I’m telling mom!” MJ teased childishly.

Kaylee brought her hands up to rub her temples and took a few deep breaths in and out, “I’ll take you through this slowly at a pace you can keep up with-“

“I’m four years older than you,” MJ declared in disbelief at her sister’s patronising tone.

Kaylee ignored her interjection and carried on, “You guys spent all your free time together and you stopped sleeping with anyone else the first time around then once he got a girlfriend you started sleeping with everyone aged 25 to 35 in the state of New York because you were obviously hurting.”

“What? No, that’s not-“ MJ tried to reason.

“Why were you at his house waiting for him after he went away that time? That’s the most girlfriend shit ever,” Kaylee added, gesticulating wildly to make MJ see reason.

MJ went to protest again but paused to think over everything her sister had told her. When they initially started having no strings attached sex, MJ had stopped sleeping with other people, having lost her desire to see anyone that wasn’t Peter. And Kaylee was right, Peter ending their arrangement because he wanted something serious had hurt her and when he’d introduced Liz to her she had sought out comfort in casual sex but that didn’t do anything. Then the night she brought him to Chicago, the sex had been different and she knew it but instead of confronting it and talking about it with him she’d run away and said hurtful things which he’d overheard.

“Oh,” MJ finally said.

“Yeah, “ _oh_ ”” Kaylee said rolling her eyes at how slow her sister had been. “Like I said, stupid bitch.” Kaylee said gesturing towards MJ.

“I said-" MJ said as she got up from where she was lying on Kaylee's bed. "Don't call me that!" She tackled her sister off the bed with those words. They may have both now been in their 20s but they would always be the young fighting siblings.

 

* * *

  

MJ flew back to New York almost immediately after her conversation with Kaylee. She had formulated a plan to confess her feelings to Peter, who was luckily still in New York, over the quick two-hour plane journey.

She’d used- or  _misused_ , whatever- S.H.I.E.L.D. resources to track him down and found that he was had booked a train out of New York and would be at Grand Central Station in an hour's time.

She got a cab straight to the station upon landing and arranged for a flash mob.

They all erupted into “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” at her signal once she spotted Peter finally walking into the station towards them. She’d chosen that song in particular because of his love of the film ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ and his offhanded comment about Heath Ledger singing it to Kat at the film’s climax being the most romantic thing he’d ever seen when they were first becoming friends after he’d just moved to New York.

MJ stepped in front of the mob to walk towards a shocked Peter, singing the closing hook by herself as the flash mob dissipated. She finished off the song then she just stood there awkwardly awaiting his reaction, unsure of how to proceed given that she was out of her element here with the romantic declarations.

Peter all but grabbed her and lifted her to kiss her, wrapping her legs around his waist.

“I love you, in case that wasn’t clear from this entire spectacle,” MJ said quietly against his lips once he eventually pulled away.

Peter laughed heartily in response then kept saying “I love you too” to her over and over like a mantra whilst he pressed little chaste kisses to her lips.

“I’m sorry I’m so slow and it took me so long to realise it,” MJ apologised.

“You’re not slow, you’re perfect.” Peter declared simply then closed the gap to kiss her again.

They kissed leisurely for a while, ignoring the crowd that had gathered to watch what was happening. The kiss filled with promises and hope for their future.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew that got very fluffy at the end there lol. I know this was rushed and not well paced I'm sorry but I didn't have the time to flesh it out more than the film itself does :/  
> Anyway hope you enjoy this latest piece and as always, feedback is much appreciated!!!  
> Find me @tvfanatic97-2 on tumblr and @tvfanatic97 on twitter x


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